


A String of Pearls

by Strange and Intoxicating -rsa- (strangeandintoxicating)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: I don't even care at this point, M/M, Siren!Ignis, prince!Noctis, yes I know how self-indulgent this is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2018-12-09 19:37:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11675700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeandintoxicating/pseuds/Strange%20and%20Intoxicating%20-rsa-
Summary: At the age of four, Noctis Lucis Caelum disappeared into the sea for seven days. When he returned, the only word he repeated was one he never forgot: Iggy.A story of a love that traverses time, destinies, Walls, and oceans.(Siren!Ignis/Noctis)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is so self-indulgent I can't even. 
> 
> It's going to be about 9 chapters or so. It's also the ONLY multi-chapter fic I am doing for Ignoct week.

Prince Noctis, heir to the Kingdom of Lucis, disappeared into the raging ocean at the age of four.

The kingdom wept and held vigil at the water's side for seven days. Seven days of the salt of their tears joining the ocean, feet licked by sand and water. It was seven days of King Regis, still in mourning for his late wife and clothes as black as night, sitting at the point where sea foam met the line of rock and sand and shells. It was seven days of ships being sent out at dawn into the endless blue and returning late into the night.

Nothing.

Not even his jacket. A lock of hair. The pearl necklace his mother had clasped around his throat on her deathbed.

Only silence on calm seas.

Hope was near lost, but King Regis stayed near the water, begging it to return his boy—his only boy. The only thing left of his beautiful wife who had been taken by death too soon.

On the eighth day just as the sun began to set and the water glowed like fire, Noctis returned to land, his clothing gone but his smile bright. He was well-fed and rosy-cheeked, a necklace of bone and pearls and shells adorning his throat. His little body was covered in seaweed, tacky and thick, but nothing could cover up the mark on his back.

It looked like a scar, but Regis had seen something so similar before. Aulea had one on her own back, a criss-cross of diamonds across the expanse of her spine. When they were young and so very carefree, Regis would kiss it and hum against the soft skin, enjoying the way Aulea would shiver and then laugh.

Her laughter sounded like bells, just as Noctis's did at that moment, and it didn't matter what it was. All Regis wanted was to hold his son in his arms, to never let go.

"Papa, I wanna go! I wanna swim. Lemme swim with Iggy!"

"Iggy?" Regis didn't even dare to let go of Noctis, pulling him closer into his arms. He wished that his arms could swallow Noctis whole and protect him from anything. From everything. The thought of Noctis ever leaving him...

He couldn't do it.

"Iggy!"

"Who is Iggy?" Regis couldn't keep the fear from his voice, the panic. Whoever had taken Noctis... whatever had taken Noctis...

Noctis tried to wiggle out of Regis's hands, but the king held firm.

"Iggy! Iggy!" Noctis cried as he tried to escape. He was fighting for the water, trying to return to the inky black depths. "Iggy!"

His wails broke a part of Regis that had no name, but he did not let go. It was his duty to protect his soft, sweet summer child.

His voice carried over the seas, the water bubbling and the tide turning. The cacophony of sweet music glided across the water. Some of the men grabbed their heads, covering their ears, but Regis did not understand—not until he saw it. Not until he saw _them_.

The winds picked up, the swirling and raging sea opening and a thousand pairs of eyes stared back. Big bodies, larger than any man on land and yet near-skeletal in appearance, bobbed arm to arm in the water. Their mouths were open, though the sound that filled the air did not match the rows of razor-sharp teeth that glinted in the moonlight. Their ethereal beauty, from their pearly sheen of their skin to the rainbow of scales that adorned their high cheekbones like armor, only made the hairs on Regis's arms stand on end.

They did not move, only allowing their mouths to widen as the enticing song drifted across the ocean.

Regis's felt the touch of the song, the whisper to step forward into the water. He wanted to swim with Noctis...

It took half a dozen men trained upon the open sea to pull Regis and Noctis from the water. Regis could not remember why he had stepped into the ocean, but he knew that there was something about that song, that sweet song...

The water was dangerous.

It wanted their Prince, and the Kingdom of Lucis refused.

The next morning, at dawn they began to build the Wall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration for this fic has definitely come from "The Little Mermaid" and "The Little Mermaid II" and I am unabashedly a fan of both. However, the sirens are not mermaids... they're a little creepier.

Noctis looked both ways before he slipped out his bedroom window, enjoying the sound of his feet crunching against the dry summer grass. The crunch, however, was far louder than he wanted it to be, but Noctis knew that Nyx wouldn't be coming by this area of the Citadel for another ten minutes. It was plenty of time for him to get out and manage to sneak over the front lawn and down into the drains.

Noctis knew that he should have been in his room studying for his upcoming exams, but the desire to get away was too strong. Seeing the scribbles staring back at him with the promise of hours upon hours of headaches brought no pleasure to Noctis, and he knew that there were so many better things that he could have spent his time doing.

Even if his father would punish him if he knew exactly what Noctis was running off to do.

Noctis licked his lips as he slowly began making his way across the lawn, careful to use the shrubbery to camouflage himself from any wandering eyes. It would have been easier to use the route accessible out from the gardens, but this way was both faster and less known. A little more dangerous, maybe, but that was the price he would have to pay.

The trick was, Noctis knew, to tell everyone that he would be at a different place. He was sure that Gladio knew that every other word out of his mouth was a lie, but the guards always were chasing after their own tails. By the time he got back, Noctis knew, he could just say that the guards managed to miss him. He was in the library, studying. Then he got hungry, then found himself taking a nap in the West Wing of the Citadel.

They didn't need to know.... not about this.

His feet knew their way through the tunnels, and though he should have been bothered by the storm drains and the water sinking into his shoes, Noctis really couldn't care. Not when he was so close....

He could smell it before he could see it, and he could see it before he could hear it. There wasn't much, but for Noctis... It was enough.

Noctis blinked as the sun hit his eyes and he lifted up his hand to block out the light, allowing his eyes to adjust to the sun. The sun was high enough in the sky that the ever-looming wall could not dare block out the beauty of its yellow hue. There were dark clouds looming off in the distance, and Noctis remembered that there was supposed to be a storm later in the day.

But the sun was not why he snuck through the drains. No; only one thing could have ever made him sneak out his window and traverse the underground pipes.

The spare stretch of land was dotted with sea shells of a hundred shapes and colors, little starfish grounded against the shore. The sand was a pale, soft yellow that reminded Noctis of butter. He was quick to pull off his wet shoes, tossing them to the side along with his bag. His shirt was next, leaving the Prince in only his summer shorts.

If it had been anywhere else, Noctis would never have taken off his clothes. The scar across his back, caused by an accident as a child, had never really healed. Not in a way that most people felt comfortable with. He didn't feel any pain, but the eyes that would stare at it always left Noctis feeling nauseous in the gym or after sparring lessons with the Crownsguard. The men never said anything, but Noctis wasn't stupid. He could see the way the others looked at it, as though it were a disease instead of raised, bumped flesh.

But here, on the little beach that barely extended a mile long, he was free. And though the Wall only allowed for a hundred meters of water before meeting metal, twisting bars and concrete, it was beautiful.

He always wondered what it would be like to cross over the Wall, to break it apart and see what was on the other side. It had been a dream of his since childhood, but his father built the Wall to keep the Niflheim invaders from reaching their shores.

The books on the history of the Niflheim nation were vague, but Noctis knew that they wanted him dead and that was enough for Regis. Keeping his nation safe and away from the ocean was the best way to protect them all.

Still...

Noctis's feet found solace in the warmth of the sand as he slowly padded toward the water. Something inside of him _sang_  when the waves lapped at his toes, and it took everything in him not to jump straight into the water.

The necklace around his neck felt warm against his skin, and for a moment there was no Wall, no assignments, no requirements. It was Noctis and the cool ocean breeze across his cheeks as he slipped into the ocean below.

Despite there being so little room for Noctis to swim, the thrill of the water eclipsed it. It was like he was meant to be there.

Noctis found himself floating to his favorite spot, a small grotto that felt more like home than the entirety of the Citadel. The dark, mossy rocks, the wind-touched stones, the cracks in the surface that allowed the sun to peak through... it was beautiful and enchanting in a way that no words could ever properly explain.

Noctis remembered a time so long ago and though he knew it was futile, he still found himself whispering into the darkness.

"Iggy?" Noctis whispered against the water, feeling his necklace bob against his chest.

Ever since he found the place again, Noctis dreamed of him—the beautiful boy with rainbow scales across his cheeks, soft skin and an even softer fin. He knew it was stupid, that it was nothing but a dream caused by the delirium of being stranded at sea as a little boy, but he dreamed of Iggy at night. He had for fourteen years.

Silence.

Noctis sighed as he swam toward the rock formation in the middle of the grotto.

Maybe it wasn't today, maybe not tomorrow...

But one day, maybe. Maybe he would return.

Noctis snorted. He was nuts, and if anyone could have heard his thoughts they would have locked him in the Citadel and never let him go.

The rocks were warm to the touch, a comfort against his bare back. Noctis closed his eyes and pushed his arms under his head, using them as a pillow. The water lapped at the rocks, but Noctis knew that even if the tide came in he would be okay.

Just a little nap. A few minutes, that was all...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And... Noctis should probably not fall asleep on rocks in grottos.

When Noctis woke to the crack of thunder, it was to a filling grotto. The wind battered against the side of the walls as the water sloshed up onto the rocks. Noctis felt his entire stomach knot as he stared at the water that had begun to fill the grotto, his eyes barely adjusting to the lack of light. The only thing that allowed Noctis to see what the lightning outside, barely letting the dim glow scatter across the wet walls.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

Noctis quickly felt at the rock he was on, pleased to notice that it was still dry. That.... that was good. He knew that the grotto wouldn't completely fill with water, not enough to kill him. He could easily get out of the grotto if it did, thanks to the crack in the rocks above his head. And if he needed to... he could just warp. But warping took everything out of him, and Noctis knew that it would be difficult to swim back.

There was another option, but Noctis ruled that one out quickly. The last thing he should have done was swim outside, in the rolling sea. There was the chance he could drown or get swept away, but even worse...

Noctis wasn't supposed to be there. No doubt if as much time had passed to et the storm wash up against the grotto, then he had to have been missing for....

Gods knew how long. At least two, maybe three hours? How long would it take for his father to send the Kingsglaive and Crownsguard after him?

He needed to get back to the Citadel...

But then, as Noctis looked up through the crack in the sky, at the storm, there was a peace as he allowed himself to slip his hands into the cool ocean water.

He should have stayed on the rock, but there was something deep inside him that called to the water, called for him to just dip himself into it. Noctis knew that there were only small fish, definitely no sharks because of the metal bars that ran deep into the sands that stopped them from making into the little amount of ocean there was. But still, he could feel something there, something like pinpricks against his spine when he heard the water lap against something...

If Prompto was with him, Prompto would have told him he was crazy and in the horror movies this was exactly how the dumb virgin died, but Noctis....

It was soft, like a whisper against his cheek, and Noctis allowed himself to slowly slip into the water.

His necklace bobbed against his chest and Noctis leaned back, allowing the water to lap at his ears.

He knew not to close his eyes, to fall asleep in the beating waters, but Noctis felt at peace, like everything would be okay, even if he did not know why. It just felt...

It felt _right_.

Noctis felt the soft fin brush against his foot before he saw it.

No.

 _Saw_ him.

Just in the flash of the lightning, in the way it bathed the grotto with just enough light for Noctis to see him, see his cheekbones and the rainbow scales against his skin, at his wet hair slicked back, at his skin that seemed to glisten. He was a man, but not. His ears.... his green eyes that seemed to glow...

The necklace around his throat, the one that Noctis had seen in a hundred pictures of his mother—

And Noctis screamed, just for a moment, before there was a mouth against his and oddly cool and yet such comforting hands grabbed at his cheeks, sliding down to caress his throat. He slammed his eyes closed and fought, just for a moment, before...

Noctis allows those hands on his cheeks, the mouth against his, to all him to a place without words, where there was only the song of the ocean.

This had to be a dream, it had to be. But every sense inside Noctis told him that the water was real, that the scales rubbing against his cheek was real, that the large mouth and teeth and lips—they were real, too. When the man pulled his head back, resting their foreheads together, Noctis opened his eyes again.

And the grotto began to glow from around them, and for a moment, just a moment, Noctis felt like this was not something unknown. This was not the unknown, because he had dreamed of this man in front of him since he was but a boy. He was bigger, yes. His scales were shinier, his teeth bigger, his hair longer—but this was...

"Iggy?"

And there was a whisper, a tinkling of bells in the grotto that seemed to drown out the storm outside. It was a voice, so soft and so inhuman, but Noctis understood it immediately.

It was not the common tongue, but to Noctis's ears...

It was words under water, but Noctis could understand perfectly.

 _"My Prince... you have returned."_  Inhumanly green eyes blinked up at him through wet lashes. _"You have returned to me."_

A soft, cool hand ran down from his neck and Noctis could feel the fingers, webbed and wet, long nails that were so gentle with his skin, caress the necklace.

"This isn't real," Noctis whispered. This had to be a dream... "You're not real. Iggy isn't... he isn't..."

 _"My Prince,"_ the man—no, not man, for the thing that rubbed against Noctis's legs were not legs, _"I am Ignis Scientia, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Niflheim. And you have been promised to me, as I have been promised to you."_ He leaned forward and pressed another kiss against Noctis's stunned, open mouth. _"I have waited for you.... every day since you were taken from me."_

"Wha—" Niflheim? They wanted him dead! But Iggy, Ignis—he was a goddamn fish, and this was not how it was supposed to be, this was just a dream a delirious child made up and—

Ignis leaned forward and grabbed Noctis's hand, forcing it against his chest. Noctis could feel the beating of his heart, of the pearl necklace his mother had clasped around his throat as she died.

And Ignis placed his other hand against the necklace on Noctis's chest, against the string of pearls and bone and shells.

The faint glow grew brighter, and for the first time in fourteen years... something inside of Noctis, something that had niggled at the back of his mind, something that felt like it was missing, clicked into place.

_"My Noctis, my sweet Noctis. I promised you I would return. I am sorry it took so long."_

And Ignis kissed him again, and this time Noctis allowed himself to simply  _be._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild Prince Ignis appears? 
> 
> Yes? YES?


	4. Chapter 4

" _My prince, you must come with me—I beg of you. I cannot lose you again._ " Ignis's words were a whisper against Noctis's ear, the melody of water and bubbling foam. Noctis could barely see, barely hear, but the was something so comforting in the way Ignis's webbed hands felt on his arms.  

"But—"

Ignis kissed him again. " _My Prince. I cannot bear to be without you again. Do you trust me now, as you did so long ago?_ "

Noctis bit his lips. "But.... I don't remember."

He didn't. Other than the flashes of rainbows, the comfort of the sea, and Ignis, there was nothing much to remember of the time. His father had told him to forget it, and he had been so young. The Wall had to be built to keep out the Niffs. It had been built to keep the monsters who wanted to kill him from invading. It was there to keep Ignis out.

Or was it to keep Noctis in?

This was insane. There was no way that Ignis was there, that he was real... That there was a half man half fish in his little grotto. He must have fallen asleep, but this had to have been just one of those hyper-realistic dreams that made him feel, just for a moment, like he was plummeting to his death before he woke in his bed. He was always safe, always sound. There was no doubt that Noctis would wake up in his bed, or hells—even on the rock. Yet the company would have been his own and the lapping of the waves against the rocks. 

No Ignis. No sweet kisses or whispers of kingdoms in the sea.

But it was the pearls around Ignis's throat and the way he looked at Noctis in a way no one had ever looked at him before. That was what stopped him, what whispered to him. It was what they said, louder than words, that Noctis knew and seemed to intrinsically understand.

And if this was a dream... Noctis wanted to cling to the vestiges of freedom for just a moment longer. Just a moment.

" _You don't need to remember, Noctis. Not until you feel it in your heart._ " Ignis pressed his wet hand against Noctis's chest. " _But let my heart beat for you. Believe me when I say that I swear it upon my life, upon my throne. Noctis, you were always meant to come with me. The Gods have led you here, led you to the place of our childhood. It has led you to the sea. It has led you to freedom. It has led you back to me."_  

Freedom.

And Ignis...

"I..." Noctis was not sure if it was the flash of the lightning or the rumble of the thunder, or if it was the way that the light seemed to glisten off the pearls around Ignis's necklace, but.... Noctis knew his choice.

He knew what had always called to him, what had always whispered its promises into the shell of his ear, and it was time now to accept it.

"But... I can't." Noctis paddled with his legs, knowing that they would never carry him into the ocean. He was human. Just a weak human. Even princes could not change that fate.

But Ignis rested his forehead against Noctis's for a moment before slipping his hands around his own throat, slowly removing the pearls. They glistened with a soft glow, one that reminded Noctis of something just along the edge of his sight. It was something that was always there, always had been, but was now only reflecting back in the dim glow.

_"You were meant to be in the sea. You were always meant to return to me._ " Ignis pressed a kiss to the pearls before slowly lifting them up around Noctis's head. " _And your mother saw to it._ "

But Aulea had died when Noctis was just a baby. Illness had struck her, had taken her health and vitality and in exchange left nothing but black tar and ash. That and the necklace Noctis had dreamed of, had memorized in photographs and videos his father had given to him as gifts.

The necklace felt exactly as Noctis remembered, and the weight of it was nearly more than Noctis could bear. His body felt waterlogged, the sea rushing against his skin and sloshing through the grotto. But nothing compared to the light, the bright white like like fire, that erupted from below the waters.

Noctis nearly screamed as he felt something inside him shatter. It was like an egg cracking against his head, the warmth of magic trickling down from his skull and onto his shoulders. He expected it would stop when it hit the water, but it raced down his skin, slick and glowing. It didn't stop.

"Iggy!"

It hurt. The warmth of the magic and the water made his skin feel like it was boiling and freezing, and when he fell backward toward the rock, Ignis was quick to catch his head.

" _Hush, Noct. Shhhh. It will all be over soon. Listen to my voice. Listen, shhhhh._ "

The tremors only gained more power and Noctis screamed, scrunching his eyes closed as tight as he could, praying for the end. He wanted salvation from the nightmare that had started off as sweet whispers and dreams.

But the song, the inhumanly beautiful melody that enveloped him was louder than the sea. It was even louder than his screams. Noctis focused his thoughts onto the voice, on the whisper of a world so beautiful it made Noctis wish he could cry. It was a song Noctis could almost remember, like a lullaby from a time that was not his. It was...

"Mom?" Noctis croaked, but she did not respond. But Ignis did. His voice was different, but still like music to his ears.

"My Prince, please. Open your eyes. Hush, and see the beauty of your kingdom. Of our kingdom."

Noctis could feel the magic settling around him as the lights disappeared. But he found his eyes opening and it was not dark, not as it once was.

It was the same grotto, but the soft luminescence of blue glistened against the water. There was a shimmer to the world, the colors so much brighter and vibrant. Even the cracks in the roof seemed to be alive, the moss curling as the rain danced its way down its face.

Ignis... Ignis was the most beautiful thing Noctis had ever seen. His green eyes seemed to glow, and when Noctis reached up to run his fingers against the glistening scales, they felt like running his hands over soft, bare skin. He didn't even pay attention to the webbing of his own fingers or the pieces of clothing lapping up against the rocks.

All he could do was stare up into Ignis's eyes and out the crack in the sky.

The clouds opened and just for that moment, in the eye of the storm, the moon glowed and whispered its blessings across the sea.

And Noctis only laughed as he reached up, resting his fingers against Ignis's slicked back hair that fell ever-so into his eyes. He could feel his fin in place of his legs, the way it brushed against the water. He could feel the warmth of the ocean, the comfort of its magic, as Noctis allowed himself to close his eyes. Just for a moment. He needed a moment.

He was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These boys. Just making them happy makes me happy.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ignis... what is this?"

It had been a few minutes of swimming through the ocean, feeling the way the water swirled around him, cradling him within its warmth, before Noctis tried to speak. It felt so bizarre, the way the water bubble from his mouth and how sound was made, and part of Noctis still felt as though he was still in the small grotto.

"You must be more specific than that, my prince." Ignis smiled through long, sharp teeth. Part of Noctis, the part of him that was taught of predators and prey, wanted to shrink back from that mouth, but then Ignis leaned forward to press a kiss against his forehead. "Ask and I shall answer."

"I... what am I?"

Ignis reached out, clasping Noctis's hand within his own as he gently edged Noctis forward, into the water. It was still so surprising how bright the water was with nothing above but moon. His fin propelled him with such precision, despite Noctis never having swam in such a way before. His throat, the gills that accepted water and made it into oxygen, felt as if they had always been there, as if he had always belonged to the ocean.

"Your mother was a bride of Niflheim, given to your father in exchange for peace and prosperity between our two kingdoms. There were to be two children—one of the land, and one of the sea. But the lands took your mother before her time... and so too must Mother Sea take back its child." Ignis paused for a moment before continuing, "She called to you because she did not trust your health in such a metropolis of death. But you wished for your father, and my King chose to return you until you were older. It is cruel to take a child from his family. Mother Sea... she did not wish for you to go, but she aquiesced. She could not hold you, just as she could not hold your mother. The Tidemother gave us her blessings and returned you to land."

"My mother— she was a mermaid?"

Ignis snorted then, a sound that should have been outright horrifying, but Noctis thought it was rather _endearing_. "We are hardly talking _fish_. We are Niflheimers. We were born of the air and sea. I am no guppy, and neither are you."

"Merpeople are real? Like, they live with you?"

"If you call that living. I would consider them _suffering_. Absolutely dull, not a single thought in their head that doesn't involve food." Ignis raised Noctis's webbed hand to his mouth, pressing a kiss to it. "You are a Niflheimer."

Noctis shook his head and stilled his fin, causing the two to come to a stop. He had gone with Ignis, gone with the creature that he remembered from his dreams. He had listened to the voice that he had thought of for almost his whole life, but—"I'm not. I'm the prince of Lucis. I'm Lucian."

"Yes, it is true. You are Lucian. But you are also a Niflheimer."

"My father said you wanted to kill me. That your country wanted me to die."

Ignis shook his head, some of the sandy brown hair fluttering around him like a halo. "That is not true. You came into the sea, willingly. We did not force you, nor coerce you. The sea called to you because it is your _home_ and you accepted." Ignis pressed his other hand against Noctis's chest, against the two necklaces around his throat. "Do you remember? When we exchanged our promises?"

Noctis shook his head. "I just remember you. But I thought it was a dream for so long that—"

"I became a distant memory. A feeling inside you that never quite left, but you doubted." Ignis frowned, his hand drifting away and through the water. It was almost surreal how the colors of the rainbow scales across his cheeks seemed to somehow dim, as though the light inside of him grew dim, too.

"You said that we were promised to one another. That I was taken from you."

"It felt as so. I found you in that very same grotto as tonight, asleep upon the warm stone. Your tears had dried to your cheeks and you wailed for your mother, but she was gone and Mother Sea wanted to comfort you. We played in the coral reef and I taught you how to swim. we collected shells and pearls. You made this for me." Ignis gestured to the second necklace, the ones adorned with small fish bones, pearls, and the smallest of sea shells. "You picked every piece and gave it to me on the seventh night as we laid on the shore and watched the stars."

Noctis closed his eyes and he could almost feel the waves lapping at his feet—no. His fin. He could taste the seawater in the air, hear the sounds of the breeze and Ignis singing to him of the stars.

"So... I'm supposed to marry you?"

Ignis chuckled. "We don't marry, my prince. We take one being into our hearts, and they are ours until the seas dry and the Tidemother brings us to the next Sea."

"What—what do you mean?"

"We are not mortals. Not the same as the humans. We are born, yes, but we do not die of disease or age. We live until we grow weary and give our spirits to the Shimmer Pools until the Tidemother is ready to begin life anew."

"But my mother..." Was she alive? Had she returned to the sea? "She died, didn't she? Or is she—is she with you? Did she leave me?" Noctis hadn't thought it possible for his voice to break under water, but it did and he could hear it echoing in his head.

Ignis picked up both of Noctis's hands again, pressing them to his cheeks for small kisses. "No, she did not leave you. She was mortal, Noctis. Your mother gave up her magic when she desired two feet. I'm sorry. My callous words did not bring you comfort. I'm—I've never been the best speaker. I went about this all wrong."

"Don't say that. You didn't mean to. I just—I don't remember her. I barely remember you. I wish I could," Noctis replied as he opened his eyes. He looked into soulful green eyes, knowing that his words could only cause pain. "I'm sorry, Ignis."

But Ignis did not complain, nor did he frown. Instead he gave a small squeeze to Noctis's hand. "We shall make more memories, then. Ones that you will remember."

There were a thousand things floating through Noctis's mind—his father, Lucis, his friends, his upcoming exams, how angry everyone would be when they realized he was missing—but they were all muted by the way the scales across Ignis's cheeks brightened again with the vividness of a rainbow. His heart seemed to both still and beat faster, and though a little part of him wanted to pull back and return to shore, Noctis quieted that urge.

"Like what?"

"Your mother may have passed, but she is still of the Sea. Let me bring you to Niflheim, to the Shimmer Pools. You may be able to reach her soul there. I don't know if those who have died with two feet can join them, but.... it is worth a try."

Noctis swallowed. He had a thousand questions he still wanted answered, but the chance to see his mother? It was something he had dreamed about—the way in which he could see her meant little. If Ignis was sure, then Noctis would follow.

"I trust you." Noctis tightened his own grip to match Ignis's. "It's worth a try. I mean, I got to see you again. I never thought that would happen." He cracked a smile. "So... I guess.... take me to your leader?"

Ignis slowly pulled on Noctis's hand, leading them forward and into the unknown.

"I'll take you to the King—he does not share blood with me, but he shares blood with you. King Ardyn will be pleased that you have come. He's been wanting to rest for so long."


	6. Chapter 6

It felt so surreal, but Noctis was pretty confident that nothing in his life had felt more clear than in the moment he entered Niflheim.

It felt wrong, as if he had walked—or swam, considering the circumstances—into a picturesque world of colors and lights and sounds. It was nothing as he expected of a city that lived in the deepest trenches under the sea. The further and further down they went, the less light there seemed to be, but the more the ground seemed to expel light. It was as if the very ocean water itself was a nightlight, helping to guide them where they needed to go.

Noctis wasn't sure what he was expecting; maybe some small home carved of rock and decorated with coral. There was a chance that there wouldn't even be homes, instead leaving them open to the wildness of the water. There could have been caves or sunken ships, something that would have housed the world Ignis spoke so fondly of.

He hadn't expected a mechanical and magical metropolis.

"What.... what is this?" 

"This is our home, Noctis." 

It was so similar to Insomnia, but so very different—the lights were bright, the paths for swimming were made with rope twined from seaweed, and the sirens moved through the water as though they were merely taking a stroll. Noctis had done it himself when he was on two legs, but to watch those who had no feet do something so similar, so comforting… it hit something inside of Noctis. 

"It's..."

There were no cars, but there were Niflleimers swimming at leisurely paces through the water, the hulking conch-shell styled metal buildings seemingly stretching on for miles. They were nothing like the rigidness or angular structures of the buildings in Insomnia, the ones that had always looked as though they never belonged to nature. These buildings did not look as if they were made by nature, but instead were slowly adapting to the changing of the tides. It was as if the Niflheimers had embraced their technology and magic, that they had combined the heart and soul of logic and faith to create something so very different. 

"It's... big." 

Ignis grabbed his webbed hand, sliding their fingers together. It wasn't the same as holding hands on land, but Noctis enjoyed it nonetheless. "It is yours." 

"I... I'm just..."

"You will be mine, and I will be yours. And Niflheim will be ours." Ignis's eyes glowed in the electric light. "Let me show you?" 

Noctis could have spent a hundred years exploring Niflheim with Ignis and never would have gotten bored. The number of Niflheimers seemed sparse, but it was probably from Noctis having grown up within the walls of Insomnia. Here, in the ocean's deepest crevice, they could come and go as they pleased. They were not locked within a small area, living and dying and never having the chance to be free. Here, Noctis understood, the sirens lived and never died. 

They were free.

They traveled through the spiraling structures, floating between shells and seaweed, traveling deeper into the city. It did feel like home in certain areas, where Noctis could see others like them, others like him. But in others, where the machine bubbled and the colors were dark like the night, he felt something inside him that screamed for him to turn away, to go back to where the sunshine destroyed the darkness. 

“Don’t fear the darkness,” Ignis murmured. “Mother Sea resides there, and she protects us.”

But Noctis had grown up listening to stories of the monsters that lived in the darkness, the monsters that had haunted Insomnia all of his life. 

“Then why do you have lights?”

Ignis paused, a perplexed look making its way across his face. “I wouldn’t know. We can ask King Ardyn.”

“You mentioned him and the Shimmer Pools?” Noctis slowly edged toward Ignis, away from the darkness. “Where are they? What exactly are they?”

“In the center of the city. We will look into them and you will, undoubtedly, understand. If not, I’m sure King Ardyn will be able to explain.” 

King Ardyn… The name felt funny in Noctis’s ears. Just like the darkness, the name filled a part of Noctis, a piece of him that he did not quite know the name of, with a certain lingering fear. It was probably from all of his time with his father. His father was the only king that Noctis had ever known, and Noctis was supposed to one day take his place.

“Did my father know who my mother was? Or… _what_ she was?”

Ignis frowned. “I do not know. I imagine he did since he locked you away from the sea.”

 His father had lied to him for years. He had hidden so many secrets about his mother, about Noctis. When he had spoken of the sea, Regis had always sounded so frightened. And Whenever he had mentioned his mother… 

At least Noctis could now understand why. 

Ignis led and Noctis followed. Some of the Niflheimers turned to look, but they never looked for long. It was almost as if they were in a daze, as if they could see Ignis and Noctis, but that none of them seemed to question them. There was something strange about their blank looks, about the listless way they looked right through them. 

“Is this…”

“Normal?” Ignis was still frowning. “Unfortunately, no. I do not believe so. But it is all I have known, as I was born after your mother left.”

“Wait… my mother caused this?” 

“Not her, specifically…” Ignis trailed off. “But my people have grown weary. Many have chosen to enter the Shimmer Pools to wait for the Tidemother.”

At that moment, one of the female sirens swam slowly by, her pale silver hair glittering behind her. There was a look on her face, one that spoke of so much time having passed and so little sun. Her eyes roved over Noctis’s face but there was no recognition or wonder. It was so different from the reverent way Ignis had looked at him.

“That is Lady Aranea,” Ignis remarked before reaching out with his free hand to touch the woman’s shoulder. “Lady Aranea... “ 

She shook her head and a light seemed to return to her eyes, a sharpness and intelligence that made Noctis tighten his grip on Ignis’s hand.

“Is this…” the siren got closer to Noctis, turning her head as she examined him. “By the Tidemother, Ignis… is this—is this him?” 

“It is Noctis, Aranea.”

The way Aranea smiled, teeth sharp and her silver hair moving like vipers, reminded Noctis of old myths he had read as a child. But when he looked into her calculating green eyes, he didn’t turn to stone. There was something there, something that flickered on the surface of Noctis’s mind.

“Have… have we met before?”

“Shiva’s tit—you remember?” Aranea asked, and it was hard for Noctis to not laugh at her outburst. For a second it reminded Noctis of Prompto. Prompto would have loved to see the world below, the technology and computers running under the ocean.

“ I can’t believe he remembers me. Ignis, you need to bring him to your uncle—”

“Before that, the Shimmer Pools.” 

Aranea frowned. “You know access to the Shimmer Pools has been limited. There have been so many...” Aranea paused and looked at Noctis for a moment. “You really should ask King Ardyn for permission.” 

Noctis felt Ignis’s hand pull on his. It wasn’t a nervous pulling, but certainly one that Noctis understood. They were going to need to move, and Ignis was going to explain it later.

“We’ll be fine. Let me speak with Uncle Ardyn afterward. Noctis wishes to commune with his mother."

A look of pity crossed Aranea’s face before she nodded. “I’ll inform King Ardyn that you’ve arrived, but I won’t tell him where you are going. He may figure it out on his own. You know how he can be,” she remarked. 

“Thank you, Lady Aranea.” 

Aranea left, but only after giving Noctis one final long, lingering gaze. 

“She knew my mother.” Noctis could feel it in the water, in the way Aranea’s eyes had looked over him, how hungry she had been. “And I feel like I’ve met her before.”

“You have. You probably don’t remember, but your mother used to bring you to the sea when you were small. Lady Aranea was close with your mother, from what I have been told.” 

Noctis frowned. There was very little he could remember of his mother, but sometimes he could almost hear her in his dreams, in the sound of the waves crashing against his favorite grotto.

“So… we met before?”

“You already knew that, Noctis.”

“No, that isn’t what I mean. I mean, I was here before then. I was here with my mother. You met my mother.” 

“I was very young, but I believe so, yes. But it’s best to focus on the task at hand, rather than linger in the past.” 

Ignis began to slowly swim toward one of the towering conch shells, but this one seemed different. Rather than the metallic sheen that Noctis had seen all over the city of Niflheim, this one was made of mother of pearl. The light seemed to make it all but glisten, and Noctis couldn’t help but stare in awe at its splendor. 

“It has been here since the beginning. It is where the Tidemother placed us when we arrived on this Planet, and is where she will collect us when it is time for us to leave. Until then, we live with Mother Sea.”

Noctis’s head swam with thoughts of his mother looking deep into something that Noctis had never seen, but hadn’t he? This all looked so familiar. 

“I think I’ve been here before,” Noctis finally answered. “I think she brought me here.” It was only bits and pieces, but there was something about this place that seemed like home. 

“There shouldn’t be anyone here at this time. Come with me, Noctis. Let us try to see if your mother is here.”

The conch shell seemed so much bigger on the inside than the outside would have suggested. There was no electricity, no artificial lights, but yet the sand below seemed to glow. It seemed to stretch down into an abyss, but everywhere he looked there was the comforting embrace of glowing blue. 

“You can touch it,” Ignis said as he slowly led Noctis down toward the shimmering pools of blue. Despite seeming to go down forever, it became clear that the light was something in the water, like a fog in the middle of the sea. “It cannot harm you.” Ignis let go of Noctis’s hand, instead guiding his webbed hand down to Noctis’s wrist. He was gentle in moving Noctis’s outstretched hand against the shimmering blue.

“What is it?” Noctis asked as he ran his fingers through the stream, feeling the warmth of light against his fingers. They were down too deep, too far—there couldn’t have been sunlight. But it felt the same, as if he were sitting on the beach, staring up at the endless expanse of sky meeting the endless expanse of sea. 

“It is the souls of our people, as one.” Ignis allowed his other hand to trace against Noctis’s waist, at the point where his skin transformed into thick scales. The other hand made its way up his arm to cup his elbow, allowing Noctis more access to the Shimmer Pool. “Look up, Noctis.”

Noctis looked up, expecting to see the mother of pearl shell, but instead it was her face. 

“Mom?” 

Noctis reached out to touch the water above, but his fingers merely disturbed the picture of her smiling face. She looked the same as she had in the photo of her wedding day, the photo Noctis had traced his fingers over until the glass became sticky and smeared with fingerprints and tears. The pearl necklace around her neck was the same one that Ignis had given him, the same one that he now wore like a badge of honor against his throat. Even the gown of milky white seemed to be the same, and Noctis had to wonder whether or not it had moved like flowing water on land as it did in the water.  

“Can she… can she hear me?”  

“I believe so.”  

“Can she answer?” 

“Not in a way we can understand.” 

Noctis tried to ignore the pain stinging in his eyes as he reached out again for the mirage of water in front of him. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to touch her, that she had long ago died and that whatever was left of her body was gone, but he could see her as if nothing had ever happened, as if nothing had ever changed. 

“I miss you…” 

Aulea laid her human hand against her chest in response, but in a flash, her face had changed and what was once beautifully human was siren—fury and hatred burning straight through Noctis—before she was gone just as quickly as she had come. 

“I believe she misses you, too.”

Noctis felt Ignis’s hand tighten on his hip and elbow, but Noctis was quick in turning toward the voice behind him. 

“Your Majesty,” Ignis intoned as he dropped his head low, but Noctis could only stare at the siren before him. The pitch black scales, the sickly pallor, the golden eyes that seemed older than time itself—there was nothing human, nothing siren, about him. 

“My dear child, it seems you have forgotten your uncle.” 

King Ardyn Izunia opened his arms, and Noctis felt the water chill and the darkness around them come to life. 

“Don’t be shy, Noctis. I hardly bite.”


End file.
